How we began

It is exactly two years since Pete and I went to Thailand to visit our daughter Carolyn, who was working there as a doctor with one of the medical agencies. Based on the Thai/Burma border, her work took her deep into the Burmese jungle to visit some of the remote clinics. From Carolyn’s work, we began to learn a little of the oppression under which these people live, and their desperate struggle simply to survive.

On the plane coming home I knew that I had been changed forever. I had been overwhelmed by the poverty I had both seen and heard about, and was embarrassed by how much we had ourselves. Things that I had previously taken for granted now seemed such luxuries - clean water in the tap, sanitation, a roof over our heads, a change of clothes (and a wardrobe full of more), food in the fridge, education for our children, health care if we need it, and so much more. I remember feeling so helpless to make a difference, but nevertheless asking God to show me a way. On that same flight home, the idea came to start making greetings cards to sell. And so Changing Lives was born!